Sitting in a menacing fashion on the south side of the entrance to Havana Harbor, Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta (which shall henceforth be referred to as "La Punta" in order to save bandwidth) was contracted by King Felipe II of Spain (1527-1598) in order to protect the harbor and city from constant attacks by Corsairs (French privateers). Work began in 1582 and wasn't completed until around 1602, which was slow even by the standards of the Spanish.

El Morro Castle, just across the entrance to the harbor, was also built around this same time, and for the same reason. In 1630 a heavy copper chain was strung betwixt the two forts to control passage into and out of the harbor.

The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) (known as the French and Indian War in the US) brought the Spanish Empire into conflict with the British Empire...which of course wound up meaning Americans fighting Cubans. The British fleet arrived on June 6 1762 and immediately set about bottling the Spanish fleet in the harbor El Morro was soon recognized to be the higher priority target of the two forts, and after almost two months of bashing at Morro by various means, it was ripe for assault.

Reinforcements from Britain's US colonies, including 3000 Americans, arrived on July 27. Shortly thereafter a mine placed near Morro was detonated and the fort attacked and taken. By August 11, the British had turned their attention to La Punta, which was beaten into submission as well. Spain learned that you just can't mess with Britain in the 18th century (unless you happen to be the US), but the Treaty of Paris (1763) gave Cuba back. To Spain of course, not to Cuba.

The Spanish rebuilt and enlarged La Punta, adding more artillery. Today La Punta is surrounded by a lovely park that is paved by striking red ceramic tiles, which are a memento of the San Antonio, a Spanish ship (filled with red ceramic tiles?) that foundered in front of the fort.

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